“It’s my pleasure.” I touched the tip of my tongue, which was still tingling and stinging with a sensation that I really liked. It made my mouth feel alive and on fire, in a good way. I liked this feeling of being alive. Out of the hospital, eating chili, laughing and taking risks.
I heard a chuckle and turned to see Noah shaking his head and tutting in an amused fashion. “You really like spicy foods. That’s for sure.” He reversed out of the parking place. “You’re braver than I am. I don’t think I could do that.” He pulled into the steady flow of traffic and stopped at a red light.
Brave!I mused, running that word over and over in my empty head. I worked the word, kneading it like someone would knead dough. Something about that word sounded strange. Like I’d never heard it before. I repeated it to myself, seeing if it stirred up any kind of memory, only it didn’t.
But when Noah began speeding up to join the highway, I didn’t feel brave anymore. I grabbed onto the seat again and squeezed.
Did you know that South Africa is one of the most dangerous places in the world to drive in?
I tightened my grip on the seat.
By the time we got back home it was already dark. I knew that the sun seemed to be slipping away into the darkness sooner now that we were in autumn.
My head was stinging a little. They’d taken the stitches out, and it had not been a very pleasant experience. Being inside the hospital had set me on edge again. Set my teeth chattering and made all the hairs on my arms and neck prick up, as if they were trying to create a barrier between me and the hospital itself. Noah had been with me, though, and when I started freaking as they brought the scissors down towards my forehead, he’d given me a reassuring smile which had calmed my nerves instantly.
We walked into his house and I followed him through to the kitchen. He took out two Cokes and placed them down on the kitchen counter. I stared at the Coke. Obviously, I knew what a Coca Cola was. In the last few days, I’d seen signs for Coca Cola everywhere, but I just couldn’t recall what it tasted like.
“Not sure if you like Coke?” he asked.
“I can’t remember.” I reached for the can. It felt cool and soothing in my hands.
“It’s the best,” Noah said, taking a sip of his. “I know I should drink less of it, but I swear, it’s addictive.”
I raised the can to my nose and giggled when the bubbles tickled me. “I wasn’t expecting that!”
Noah sat at the counter and watched me.
“What?”
“It’s just . . . you don’t get to see many people taking their ‘first’ sip of Coke. Or drinking their first coffee, eating their first chili. I must admit, it’s kind of fun to watch.”
“Really?”
Noah nodded. “What do they say about when you become a parent? You get to re-live moments from your childhood through your kids when you watch them do things for the first time.”
“And you’re re-living moments from your childhood through me?” I asked.
He shrugged. “In a way, re-living some first times vicariously through you. So, go on, sip.” He crossed his arms across the kitchen counter and looked like he was getting comfortable.
“I can’t do it if you’re watching me like that!” I stared down at him from my standing position.
He grinned. “Performance anxiety?”
“Well, youarestaring at me.”
“Okay, I’ll turn around.” He shifted his body in the chair and looked away. He did have the broadest shoulders, and when he crossed his arms like that . . . muscles pulled tightly across his back and bulged through the very fabric of his shirt and—
“And?” he asked after a while.
“Oh!” I stopped looking at his back. “I haven’t done it yet.”
“Are you distracted?”
“No!”Yes!
I put the Coke back up to my lips, trying not to look at those lines on his lower back. Those lines that the shirt was clinging to that seemed to travel down into his pants.
“And?”
